Charles Fischer

My philosophy of game management at the end-game is, "first downs at the end of the game are as important as touchdowns earlier in the game. Without both you don't win." So to me--whether you turned the ball over to Penix at mid-field, or his own 10 yard line...it didn't matter. With over three minutes left and using four downs every series--there is no doubt in my mind that he would have had the Huskies scoring. So we try to win it by burning two more first-downs, thus we do what it takes to win at the end. I am quite OK with Dan's decision there, and it actually gave us time to come back at the end were it not for precious time wasted. (Another time) FishDuck Observations: Washington's defense was much better than I thought they would be going into the game. Oregon's defense was not as good as I thought. The inexperience of Will Stein showed up on 4th downs, but this is his first rodeo at this level. Oregon is not even in this game, where it not for what Dan Lanning has built at Oregon. He is special, and I want him long term at Oregon. To me, Dan's weak spot last year was 4th down decisions, but he is incredibly smart, so no-way he did not learn from that last year? Nope; Dan Lanning has lost three games in two years due to passing up field goals, and failing on 4th down. How many times does it take?

Completely agree; DL has transformed this team like none other could. I certainly want him as our coach long-term, but three losses to rivals in two years over passing up field goals? When do you learn? How many more losses does it take? Cristobal blew a game or two a year to teams we should not have lost to, and Lanning is doing the same thing via a different method. The Huskies were better on defense than I thought they would be, and Oregon’s defense was not as strong as I thought we’d be. Take the damn points!

Unfortunately, we lost for the same reason as last year, and did not learn from it. That is what worries me going forward… Always…take the damn points! How many MORE games do you need to lose before you learn? You have already lost three games in two years over this..,isn’t that enough?

The facts are: he passed up a field goal before halftime, and another in the early third quarter. Those were winning points. Take the damn points!

Think of it....Dan has only lost four games at Oregon, but three of them because he passed up easy field goals. Three out of four?

The national stats say that typically teams make one of three 4th down attempts. What is your percentage Dan? Time to rethink that? He has passed easy points that could have beaten the Huskies twice, and Oregon State. (So far) When teams are so close--these decisions make the difference. Make the other team beat you.

The overhaul of this team was incredible, and I really thought that Lanning learned from last year's mistakes against Washington and Oregon State. Then he repeats them in this game, and defends them in the news conference? He doesn't get it, and probably won't for years, because he has not had enough experience--enough painful losses. And he expressed confidence in Cam Lewis, the guy who has done this before? This is going to be longer build of the Oregon program than I thought because our coach is very young. I am a fan and will be loyal, but I will not deny what my eyes see, and common sense tells me.

As much as I am a Dan Lanning fan....he did not learn anything from last year's fiascos with the same decisions against Washington and Oregon State.

You're right. Maldonado missed a 43 yarder, straight-on, with no wind against USC in 2011 that kept us out of the Rose Bowl. Cam's was much less at 42 yards... It was an apt comparison; they both choked.

Haven't got there yet. One at a time...

No. You tell me...what is harder? --Moving on a very motivated Husky defense? Blocking fast bodies, and making big catches? --Trying to stop Michael Penix? or... Kicking a 42 yard field goal, straight in front with no wind? One swing of the leg? It was easy for him physically...and this is what they train for. The rest of the team had it far harder... A field goal kicker is only as good as what he can produce at crunch time.

Jon, I disagree. If it was 52 yards, I would agree with your reasoning. But 42 yards, straight on, and no wind is what you live for. He just plain choked. Another Maldenado…

You have 42 yards, straight ahead, and no wind. This is what you came here for, and what the team needs. You have the physical ability to do it… (I placekicked in HS, and this is all mental.)

This is the difference between a 36 year old coach versus a 56 year old coach. Unfortunately, he is learning the hard way at OUR expense.

I love that commercial!

That is their offense. They don’t have to pass protect very long because he gets rid of the ball so quickly. My hope is that we can disrupt enough on occasion and cover better than what we are currently in the second half.

You got a love how, with the two point conversion after the first touchdown that we match Husky touchdowns but stay in the lead! So sweet!

Tuli for Washington is playing at nose tackle.

You all know the drill, and let’s have a great time discussing before, and during the game in this thread!

He is a 4-Star on Rivals, but it does not matter. He is a crucial new piece to add to the Oregon Defense. This makes the 17th 4/5-Star player to verbal to Oregon for the 2024 class, and that officially makes this class the second best recruiting class in the history of Oregon football. With a few months to go, it’s possible to tie or break the record of 19!

GameDay threads are where people lose their minds, and all semblance of rationality. I cannot tell you how many blow-ups we have had, people--good people who are no longer on this site because they could not control themselves. Discussing negative is fine. Being angry at the negative plays is fine, and normal. Going over-the-top and venting repeatedly on fellow Duck fans is not. We lost a couple of good people and a great FishDuck writer last year from the Washington game fallout. I always have trouble explaining where the line of rationality is, because you all know what a crazy fan I am, and I physically get sick when we lose. Yet, even I can see a line... I need a safe environment for people to post, and most important to read. Nobody wants to read banal utterances umpteen times... So, the Dr. Pepper commercial was perfect in conveying what I deal with. I guarantee you--someone in this forum will write the following in the future...

The entire ESPN GameDay Crew picked Washington to win, and I was pretty surprised to see Corso do the same. Bastards. Joel McHale and Lee Corso...

Yep. I was not going to name them....but you have. Stephens is actually quite a bit better this year, but he will not be on the field for major plays. The defensive backfield that will be playing the majority of the time came from the portal and are huge upgrades to last year. Washington is better this year, but so are we.

Whoa. Their experts give us their thoughts below, and they give hope to those who have worries... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Oregon at Washington (-3) Ubben: I was looking into some of the numbers this week and they confirm a lot of what I have seen in just watching these two teams. And that’s Oregon is a much more complete team. And I know Washington is a lot of fun to watch. I have a lot of respect for Washington, but this is a team that doesn’t really try to run the ball, doesn’t particularly care to run the ball. When you don’t run the ball or have any desire to run the ball, these are the kind of games where it kind of catches up to you. And this Oregon team right now is third nationally in defensive yards per play. You can talk about the schedule all you want, but at the end of the day, that’s really impressive. And they’re No. 1 nationally in yards per carry. Oh, and they have a Heisman candidate at quarterback in Bo Nix. I think Oregon wins this game outright. But, Ari, we’ll get right into it off the top, my lock of the week is the under in this ballgame. Under 67.5. Wasserman: What?! That’s my lock of the week. Are you serious? Ubben: Yes. Games like these are rarely track meets and both these teams have better defenses than people realize. And I checked it, I believe over 90 percent of the money is on the over and that line hasn’t moved. Wasserman: I didn’t even see that you did that. We’re not usually like that. There’s so many things that you could pick. The fact that we’re both on it is kind of scary. I don’t want people to be on that. Dochterman: I think Oregon’s defense is built to stop a lot of the drives from Washington, and they’re really going to turn them one dimensional. This is where Michael Penix is going to have to show that he’s better than where he’s been in the past in these types of situations against these types of opponents. I think the Ducks are a better team. Now, the game is in Washington. The Huskies will be fired up for it, but I think they can be taken out pretty quickly by what will be a very efficient Oregon offense. Wasserman: I look at this pretty simply. Part of the reason why I’m on the under is Oregon’s defense is very underrated nationally. They are fifth in the country in total defense in yards per game. And if you go look at Washington’s defense, they’re somewhere in the 60s. I see two very good teams who are probably going to play a very close game and what does that usually come down to? Which team gets more stops? I just think that Oregon, like you said Dave, and I hate to agree with you, it’s weird to agree with you so early on in the show, but I think Oregon’s going to win this game outright and and maybe comfortably.